Patient dragon (Surraruthru)

[Anastasia]

You wait for action for now, as Aurora gathers itself in Elysium. Soon Elena appears before you, "Hi, Gisfal would like to see you in the strategy room."

[Iron Dragoon]

"Thank you."

Surraruthru heads towards the strategy room!

[Anastasia]

Three are in here - Adrian, Gisfal and a scribe writing everything said down. "At ease," Gisfal commands, "We're making sense of the battle. Tell us in your own words what happened, from the time you marched out of Aurora until you reached ita gain."

[Iron Dragoon]

Surraruthru lands on the table, shaking out his wings and stretching his body a bit.

"Mmm.. Well, we entered the fog and advanced. Moore and I took position in the rear to get a better vantage of the lines and to spot where our assistance was most needed. Moore began his music while I waited for a more concrete conflict area to appear in the battle lines. Once the engagement started in earnest, I sent my magic through the Tapestry and empowered the key personnel and squad leaders.

We initially pushed through without much issue, with the Lillends further empowering the lines. Shortly after, the Styx-rain began. We spotted it right away, and Moore sent a runner to Grisfal about it. I figured a strong enough wind or fire could deal with it, but I had not prepared any such spell. I was hoping to dispel it, but we couldn't find a source point for it. It began eating away at our weaker spells almost immediately, according to Moore.

Without being able to do anything about it, we simply dealt with it being present and pushed on. We began to hit the outer rim of the defenses, and the Styx-rain became heavier, and were informed about the flanking forces. We started getting a stream of mentally injured forces from the front lines. The flanking force hit us shortly after that. I sent a Hellball into their formation and ripped it apart for the most part, along with the Lillend's sonic attacks. A couple of Malebranches came after Moore and I, and the retreat was called. Moore separated from the one after him, and I sent a Greater Shout into the face of the one who was foolish enough to come after me.

The Vanguard showed up after that, and things were so mixed, I couldn't send any offensive spells into the lines without ripping apart our forces with them, so I summoned a Unicorn to assist with the healing. After that, we arrived back inside Aurora.

If I may posit, I think the Styx-rain ate away our Mind Blanks and mental protections. The devils had something that took advantage of it. I fear it speaks for them either having knowledge of our normal protections and their strength, or something that was able to simply over power them. Nothing we ran into really posed much of a threat in the scheme of the battle, to be honest. Everything we saw, we ripped and tore apart. I couldn't see the lines faltering anywhere from where I was. To be honest, I was surprised by the call for retreat."

[Anastasia]

The sound of the scribe recording your words is joined by the sight of Adrian occasionally nodding. It's Gisfal that speaks up when it's over, however.

"What was your opinion of the diabolical strategies and tactics, as best you understand them from your position?"

[Iron Dragoon]

"I didn't see much due to the fog, but it seemed... Basic. That's not necessarily an indication of lack of skill or planning, but it seemed like a simple flanking and fall back maneuver. Nothing in the force composition was unusual or stand-out from what I saw. No real big hitters or significant threats.

If I could get details about the other parts of the field, I could put together a better picture, but from what I have... It seems like they used fairly mundane forces to bog us down; to have us trod through mud and break against the walls, so to speak, and let the Styx-rain open a weakness that they had planned for. The lack of those heavy hitters leads me to believe that the Styx-rain may have been a double edged sword for them... Perhaps the common thread to their force composition was a resistance to a mind effect? If so, and the Styx-rain hit their forces the same way, it explains why something more powerful or more protected wasn't present.

However, if they were counting on the Styx-rain to be their primary defense, even if it did work, then it was... a significant gamble on their part. It could have been countered with sufficient wind spells or freezing. The fact that we didn't have access to that, didn't have it prepared, reveals either a significant hole in our planning. The fact that we have the level of intellect we do planning these things makes it feel... suspicious."

[Anastasia]

"That was my impression as well. It wasn't a complex defense because they didn't need a complex defense," Adrian says.

"I think that's enough. Thank you, dismissed," Gisfal says. After a moment he adds, "One more thing. How much strength do you think the devils may have been holding back here?"

[Iron Dragoon]

Surraruthru cocks his head a bit to look up at the ceiling with one eye, considering for a moment.

"A significant amount. If I'm right in that the forces we encountered had a resistance to an effect that they used the Styx-rain to enable or enhance, then whatever forces they had that did not have such a resistance would have been housed inside the building. Depending on the lay out of the halls and rooms, they could have set the whole place up to be a channelized killing funnel, and would have ensured their forces inside could take advantage of it. Combined with the amount of time they would have to position those forces while we slogged through the rain and outer defenses... They would have been exactly where they wanted and we would have paid for it.

It likely would have been a slaughter, and the deaths would have been... bad."

[Anastasia]

Gisfal considers, "This doesn't leave the room, but I agree. The first force was most likely a delaying force, and we lacked the power to make and hold the assault needed to circumvent or power through that. They didn't need powerful devils to stop us when our own mind and memories betray."

[Iron Dragoon]

Surraruthru nods.

"It was a masterfully planned defense. We should adopt it ourselves. In fact, we should weaponize it. A purifying force or something that specifically targets evil." 

[Anastasia]

"Sometimes the simplest strategies are best," Adrian notes, "We have something like that as a defense on the gate and courtyard, but not as an active attack. More automated attacks, especially as we use Aurora as an attacking asset."

"A funnel is easy to set up, the courtyard and entrance hall is set up for it. However, if the devil push that far, we've already gravely miscalculated," Gisfal agrees. "There's been discussions about that sort of weapon before, I think it's due to be brought up again.

[Iron Dragoon]

"To go out on a dangerous limb, as a suggestion, we could do much worse than Goldenfire, or the embers we collected."

[Anastasia]

"Let's wait until we have that finished and sorted first," Adrian says, "Last report I heard is that they still needed to go back and finish it."

[Iron Dragoon]

"Oh? Finish what? The assault?"

[Anastasia]

"The business with goldenfire," Adrian says, "Nevermind it for now." He glances to Gisfal, "Anything else?"

Gisfal shakes his head. "You're dismissed, Surraruthru."